It's not as if Isaiah Thomas was short on admirers prior to this.
The last pick in the draft, and yet an MVP candidate on his third team, with a scoring average second to only Larry Bird in Celtics history.
Almost without exception, the smallest guy on the floor, and yet with a fearlessness -- in the lane and in the fourth -- that's nearly unrivaled among taller peers.
All at a salary that's roughly half of players not nearly half his caliber.
So he didn't need to do what he did Sunday night to be revered in Boston, beloved by his teammates, and appreciated by fans of rival teams nationwide. He didn't need to play 38 minutes less than 40 hours after his sister Chyna died in a car crash in Washington state. He didn't need to carry his squad, as he has so many nights this season; no, on this night, they needed to carry him.
And yet he did all of that, scoring 33 points, including a layup with 7.5 seconds left, scrapping to the end.
And so, no, this isn't how this should have gone on Sunday. Not at all. That's no slight to the Chicago Bulls, who showed in a 106-102 win that they have some elements -- two legitimate go-to options and an offensive rebounding edge -- for an upset in this series.
But Isaiah Thomas, who made 10-of-18 shots and was a plus-12, deserved better.
"He's an amazing player, an amazing person," Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. "Days won't get easier for him. But he somehow plays like that .... Couldn't help but be inspired by his play."
Thomas deserved the Brett Favre fable. It was 2003, when Favre played for the Packers the day after his father Irv died. He threw for 399 yards in a Monday Night Football runaway.
Thomas deserved the Tiger Woods release. Back in 2006, Woods collapsed into the arms of his caddy after winning the British Open two months after his father Earl died.
Basketball, however, isn't an individual sport like golf. Someone has to make an occasional shot for you. And in the 10 minutes that Thomas sat on Sunday, the Celtics missed 12 of 16 and were outscored by 16. That was the difference, and maybe some of it was due to the distraction. Celtics players and coaches didn't want to detract from what the Bulls achieved Sunday, but Stevens acknowledged "it's really hard circumstances for those guys, specifically Isaiah."
The night included a rousing introduction for Thomas -- who walked more deliberately than his normal pregame gait -- a moment of silence
"We're never gonna make excuses, but this is hard," Al Horford said. "This is difficult. I felt like our guys really dealt with it the right way. But Isaiah was the guy who handled it best ... This was not easy. We have a lot of respect for him for what he was able to come out here and show. It's not an easy task, but he didn't make excuses."
He didn't, even while oddly making Charles Barkley "uncomfortable." Barkley, after seeing Thomas crying while sitting with teammate Avery Bradley during pregame warmups, observed that Thomas was "not in shape to play. I mean, I don't know how this night is going to turn out, but to be sitting on the sideline a few minutes before the game, crying, that just makes me uncomfortable for him. That's just not a good look for him, in my personal opinion. I mean, he is clearly devastated, like we all would be if we lost a sibling, but sitting on the sideline right before the game, that makes me uncomfortable."
Bradley, for his part, just listened. "You don't want to say anything," he said. "I've been through this a couple years ago with my Mom. I know it's hard to go through it. You just want to be there to support your friend."
Thomas made Barkley's concerns seem even sillier when he came out making shots in a 13-point first quarter. And he kept fighting all the way into the fourth, taking a charge, splitting a double-team, finishing over Robin Lopez, until he trudged off the court, down 1-0 in the series, but elevated in everyone's eyes.
"He's a hell of a player, but that's always tough to go through," Jimmy Butler said. "It just shows the type of man, the type of person he is, to go out and battle for his team."
He didn't need any more admirers.
He earned them anyway, on a night he deserved a victory too.
